Fabrics are required in a wide variety of applications and industries, including for instance the fashion and furniture industries, as well as being useful in a number of medical applications. Most commonly fabrics are woven fabrics, although it is also known to produce non-woven fabrics. The industries which require fabrics have a need for the provision of fabrics by methods which are flexible and convenient, and in particular methods which allow fabrics to be formed quickly and easily, from a variety of different fabric materials and in a variety of different shapes.
EP-A-083,960 discloses a composition comprising mineral wool and polyolefin fibres. This composition can be sprayed on to ceilings or walls to form a textured acoustical coating. This composition does not enable a fabric to be formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,430 describes a novel use of leather waste. Pieces of leather are broken down with a solvent to form a mixture which can be spread on the surfaces such as walls, floors or ceilings to create a film.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,509 discloses another wall coating mixture comprising cellulose fibres and a cellulose or starch based binder, water and foaming agent. The coating forms a film on walls which resembles plaster.
EP-A-328,037 describes the production of a piled texture material from a composition comprising a film forming polymer and microparticles.
JP 61042373 describes a paint which can be used to give a suede or felt appearance in architectural interiors and the interiors of cars.
None of these disclosures relates to the provision of a fabric, although a number of the disclosures relate to sprayable coatings which contain fibres. The invention, in contrast, is based on the realisation by the inventors that particular combinations of materials can be used to form compositions which can create non-woven fabrics by a simple spraying process. Thus the invention allows provision of non-woven fabrics containing a wide variety of fabric materials, by a simple and straightforward method. The invention allows application of fabric to a wide variety of different surfaces and with almost unlimited scope for the contours of the fabric.